A Cognitive Mapping Approach to Organizing the Participation of Multiple Actors in a Problem Structuring Process

International audienceProblem structuring methods lead to a better understanding of problems by proposing that individuals engage in a structured process of investigation of such elements as causal relationships, connected problems, and possible solutions. This paper first examines possible ways of organizing the participation of multiple deci- sion-makers in the varying contexts of the problem structuring process. The paper presents an original methodology based on investigating the participants' contribu- tions with respect to the problem explored. This methodology uses cognitive mapping techniques and offers two kinds of support, the first justifying a specific division of the participant set into thematic subgroups and the second providing a basis for further exploration using different problem structuring methods